Kale Pesto Pizza

Attention kale lovers! I have a pizza for you. Everyone else, please shield your eyes and forgive me for the very green pizza on your screen. I’ve had this idea for a while now—kale pesto pizza with golden mozzarella and crispy kale on top—and it is finally reality. A very tasty reality, of which I am looking forward to eating again for lunch.

As any good vegetarian blogger should be, I am obsessed with pesto, and basil is awfully expensive this time of year. I say “this time of year” like it’s nothing, but it’s snowy, icy, below freezing and gray outside, and I’m currently wondering what I’m doing with my life/daydreaming about beach vacations.

As I was saying, kale pesto is a great, affordable option this time of year. I made mine with pecans and I love the subtle, sweet pecan flavor in every bite. You could also use walnuts in your pesto, or pepitas for a nut-free option. This vegan pesto would be fantastic on pasta if you need to warm up with a bowl of hot, steaming pasta. It’s cold outside!

This kale pesto pizza recipe is a perfect weeknight meal! Kale lovers will appreciate the crispy kale on top, too. You can change up the toppings if you'd prefer, though! Recipe yields one large, 12-inch pizza or two smaller, 9-inch pizzas.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven. If you’re using a baking stone or baking steel, place it in the oven on the top rack. If you're using my dough recipe, prepare dough through step 4. If you're using store-bought dough, check the instructions of the package. It might need to rest at room temperature while you work on the pesto.

Make the pesto: In a food processor, add the kale, pecans, lemon juice, garlic, salt and several twists of freshly ground black pepper. Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the oil. Process until the pesto reaches your desired consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Taste and add more lemon, salt or pepper if necessary.

Prepare the pizza dough as directed. If you're using my pizza dough recipe, I'd make two pizzas. If you're using store-bought dough like me, I'd roll it out into one large pizza. I like to roll out the dough on pieces of parchment paper for easy transfer to the oven. For best results, roll the dough out as thin as reasonably possible while maintaining an even surface level.

Top pizza(s) with an even layer of pesto (you may end up with extra pesto, which would be great on pasta or as a sandwich spread, etc.). Sprinkle cheese over the top. Lastly, in a small bowl, toss 1 cup chopped kale with 1 teaspoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Rub the oil into the kale so it's covered with a light, even layer. Distribute the kale evenly over the top of the pizza.

Transfer one pizza to the oven, either on a baking sheet or onto your preheated baking stone. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese on top is bubbly (about 10 to 12 minutes on a baking sheet, or as few as 5 minutes on a baking stone). Repeat with remaining pizza, if necessary. If desired, top pizza with a light sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Slice and serve.

I was going to ask the same thing. My husband is NOT a fan of the kale, though he loves most other greens. I also wondered if a different green, such as spinach, could be a worthy substitute. I know there are spinach pesto recipes out there. I love the idea of using pecans as the nuts!

I used spinach, kale, cilantro and parsley. it tastes amazing. I recently bought a cilantro and sunflower seed pesto. I think with all the lemon and garlic and oil etc the greens become not as significant

I wouldn’t use spinach because it contains a ton of water and would surely make your pizza soggy. I think the kale pesto masks the kale taste. It’s topped with kale as well though, maybe leave that out and top with another veggie he does like. The kale pesto was great- I used pecans to make it and loved it!

This looks incredible. I’ve already decided to pick up kale on my way home so I can eat this for dinner. As always, your pictures are stunning. Thank you for creating a pizza with pesto for sauce! I love vegetarian pizzas and this one is sure to be phenomenal.

I just made a version of this with your recipe, but using puff-pastry instead of pizza dough (because that’s what I had in).
I found the pesto to be a little bitter before I put it on the pizza (or tart in this case) but once it had cooked for 12 mins this bitterness was gone – I don’t know if this was due to the cooking or due to the addition of mozerella and pecorino cheese? Anyway, it was delicious and I especially loved the crispy kale on top of the pizza – next time I’ll make more of that!
Note: I don’t recommend making this with puff-pastry – it was mostly pretty soggy. I’ll try the proper recipe another time with pizza dough.
Thanks again for another great recipe Kate.

Kate I am exactly your kind of people! Life has to include both kale and pizza! And when the two come together, well, that’s a special kind of magic! I’m sorry but we are having perfect, sweltering summer weather here at the moment, and basil is growing in abundance, but you can be sure this pizza will be just as welcome while we are sticking close to the A/C loungeroom this weekend!

I made this last night and it was delicious and really easy. I used wholewheat flatbreads and cooked them at 425F for 8 minutes. I added sliced mushrooms and sage to one of the pizzas which was great too. Another winner!

Can I just start by saying kale pesto is everything this time of year! My house smells SO good right now as my pizza is coming out of the oven right now! Thank you for another easy and delicious recipe. Love and light cookie and kate

I made the pesto from this and it was fantastic! I did a pasta with some mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and added in the pesto. It was so good! I am going to try a little today mixed into a chickpea and wild rice soup. This is going to be a new to go in my kitchen.

Made this today on a very snowy day with my boyfriend. It was so easy and so fun to make. He isn’t a huge kale fan, and this was a great way to introduce him to it. The pizza was delicious, Kate. You’ve helped me cut out almost all meat from my diet because of your endlessly creative blog with such delicious recipes.

Wish I could give this recipe more than 5 stars, it was so DELICIOUS!! Made it tonight with the addition of some grilled / chopped shrimp and sliced mushrooms. My husband and I could not stop raving about how fabulous it was as we devoured the entire pizza! YUM!! Definitely adding this to our regular pizza rotation!

You rock at developing recipes that are not only nutritious but absolutely delicious too! I’m going to serve this pizza at my Super Bowl party. I think I will slice it into easy to pick up bite size squares. Please post Super Bowl party recipes! I love your style:)

I tried this and loved it! We made a couple changes. I didn’t have mozza so we used Jarlsberg. Amazing! And we did a white flour pizza crust. We will make this many times I think! Thank you for the wonderful recipes, Kate!

I’m fixing kale tonight with sweet potatoes, mixed beans, and more in a Moroccan Tagine. Wondering how long the pesto would keep in a jar in the fridge as it might be worth making a double quantity while I’m about it?

Yummy!!! Enjoyed it while watching the Super Bowl. Added mushrooms and used Udi’s GF pizza crusts. My 3 yr old son helped me add the oil while making the pesto and he loved licking some pesto off a spatula. Delish! Hubby loved it, too!

Was a little afraid; kale pizza……was hard for me to imagine it to be any good. But I like pizza and I love kale. So decided to give it a try. And OMG…this is amazing!
My favorite kind of pizza from now on for sure!
Thank you so much for this recipe Kate!
(Really glad I found your blog!)

The pesto was amazing! I used an ezekiel sprouted tortilla for the crust and added my own toppings after the pesto. I never thought of kale as a pesto before! I just made up my own “pesto” recipe today with kale, garlic, lemon, pecans, raisins, olive oil and a handful of garbanzo beans. Ha ha ha it was great too. You got me all inspired! Thank you for your delicious and nutritious recipes! :-)

This pesto is unreal. First made pizza pittas as per the recipe,with roast butternut squash on top too. Then today for lunch I had it with wholewheat pasta, roast butternut squash, rocket (arugula for the americans) on the side and a poached egg on top. It felt like a restaurant meal, the delicate sweetness from the peacans really takes it up a notch. A new staple recipe for me, thank you!

I’ve been wanting this since I saw the post. I prefer to make things from scratch, but due to time constraints, broke down and got a store crust. I used pecans in the pesto. This came out even better than I’d anticipated…thanks for another great recipe! I’ve made a bunch from your site.

When I read “weeknight meal” I was like, “nah, this is going to take longer.” But, it actually was super quick (I didn’t make the dough) and probably the best pizza I’ve ever made. It looks pretty too :)

I made this tonight after eyeing it on my reading list for months! Loved every bit of the prep – making pesto (so easy), shaping the dough (my fav), shredding cheese – makes it so easy to through it all together and bake a pizza with great nutty, garlicky flavor – with just a small kick from the red pepper flakes. Thanks for yet another great recipe which I know I’ll repeat!

I made this for dinner last night – it was SO delicious and my whole family loved it! It was my first time making a pizza myself, and was very easy. I can’t wait for lunch today to eat the leftovers :)

This was exceptional. I added mushrooms and a few diced hot pepper rings. I think artichokes would go well too. Had the leftover pesto on pasta with just Parmesan which was amazing as well. I’d just caution that you may not need the whole amount of the olive oil in the pesto, so don’t add it all at once without testing.

This was amazing, I’ve been considering becoming vegetarian and I think this recipe has swayed me to become one, doesn’t seem quite so difficult with yummy food like this. I used walnuts and made the crust from scratch. Really, really good! Thank you so much, love all these recipes!

I made this the other night in a desperate attempt to finish a bag of kale and it was fantastic. The pesto is so easy and incredibly flavorful. Thank you for helping me find a tasty way to get through 4 cups of kale!

This pizza is incredible! Your dough recipe is now my go-to pizza dough. So easy and quick. I used walnuts instead of pecans and added some sun-dried tomatoes on top and my whole family is obsessed with this pizza. The slices freeze and reheat really well too. Thanks!

Thank you so much for this recipe. This is delicious! I made this pizza by the recipe, other time added also crushed fresh tomatoes and sliced of mushrooms. Once on a dinner table –>it’s gone fast. Kids liked it too.

Nice! As to fresh pesto, basil will root easily from cuttings placed in water and can then be planted on a pot. I have basil growing in front of a window that get some sun. As long as it is watered I grows just fine. A couple of plants can keep you fed all winter. (I live in Minnesota.)

Made this pizza tonight, it was fantastic!! The lemon and the garlic in the pesto really come through. I used Trader Joe’s whole wheat crust and it was good but didn’t seem to cook all the way, it was a little chewy and slightly doughy, it was far from crisp. I followed the directions on the package, and left it in for 15 minutes. Do you have any suggestions on how to get the dough nice and crisp?

Thank you so much for your blog, everything I have made so far as been delicious!